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May 2, 2012

Many people wonder about whether or not an ebook reader like the Amazon Kindle is the best option for them. Others are interested in getting into the ebook game and are just puzzling over which dedicated ebook reader or tablet best fits their lifestyle.

What people don't realize is that there's another perhaps even bigger problem waiting on the horizon. Once you have your preferred device for ebook reading, you'll start to seriously consider whether or not you're still going to buy hard copies of the books you want. Seriously.

Especially when you're outside the US, you'll often find that a lot of books hard copy retail prices are in the same neighborhood or even more expensive then their ebook counterparts. Thus for titles that you don't necessarily have the same love for or lack paperback copies in local shelves, you'll probably end up considering whether or not the ebook copy is enough.

And as much as there are a lot of public domain books that are available for download around the web, there's still something to be said about the many benefits of buying the official Kindle versions of books, especially if you access your Kindle library of titles from multiple devices, applications like Kindle for PC or online via Kindle Cloud Reader. If you read solely on your ebook device, then this may not be a major selling point for you.

In recent months that I find myself rarely buying physical books since I keep double-checking prices versus the Kindle Store. Or I wait for the stores to majorly go on sale. Or I only invest in books that don't translate to Kindle well like art books. Or finally there are the books that I really love and want to have on my shelf, thus at times I end up spending double since I get both the Kindle and hard copy editions.

Life's funny that way.

How about you fellow ebook readers? What changes have you noticed in your book buying habits?